Posts tagged nobel
Quasicrystals!
Interesting to see the Nobel Prize for Chemistry going to a person whose research was so overwhelmingly disputed - and then proven to be correct. Essentially any crystal structure can be split into multiple grains/unit cells which are, in the case of substances like table salt, normally ordered and periodic. The different with quasicrystals is that, whilst being ordered, it is not periodic. This uneven structure means that it is a lot harder to break compared to normal crystalline structures, and they also make for excellent electrical conductors, the reasons for which are still being investigated.
The pleasure of working as a scientist is having another series of methods to see how the world around us works. That’s how people should be taught science as young children: a way to approach the world. It’s so much fun that people would use it their whole lives whether or not they go into science.
